Today is an important holiday in Chinese culture – the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节 – zhōng qiū jié). This harvest festival was made a public holiday in the Middle Kingdom back in 2008, and most Chinese people enjoy a short break from work or school to reunite with family members. You may not know it, but this short festival is considered by many to be second in importance only to the granddaddy of ’em all, the Spring Festival. To help you further understand this traditional Chinese holiday while learning a bit of the language as well, here are some useful links and videos related to Mid-Autumn Festival:
Transparent Chinese Blog
Last year, I posted a nice write-up about this festival that includes some of the history and traditions. If you missed it, you can find it here.
Around the Web
The Huffington Post has a great article up about how to make moon cakes yourself. Click here to learn how to make these tasty treats at home.
Over at the China Real Time Report on the WSJ, you can find an incredible slideshow with pictures of Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations in the country. Scroll through these awesome images here.
It’s not only moon cakes that people eat to celebrate this traditional festival. The Global Times has posted a list of the Top 10 Foods for Mid-Autumn Festival, and you can browse it by clicking here.
The folks at Quizlet have put together a nice set of vocabulary flash cards that help you learn 15 words related to this holiday. Test yourself and improve your vocab by checking it out.
Videos
This video from Chinese Class 101 will help you a bunch with your reading and listening, and will also teach you a lot about the festival. In Chinese with Chinese and English subtitles.
In this short Hello China video, you’ll learn the basics of Mid-Autumn Festival. In English with Chinese subtitles.
Learn the fascinating legend behind the festival – the love story of Chang E and Hou Yi.
Watch a chef whip up some moon cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Sasha is an English teacher, writer, photographer, and videographer from the great state of Michigan. Upon graduating from Michigan State University, he moved to China and spent 5+ years living, working, studying, and traveling there. He also studied Indonesian Language & Culture in Bali for a year. He and his wife run the travel blog Grateful Gypsies, and they're currently trying the digital nomad lifestyle across Latin America.
Thanks so much for posting these videos. I especially enjoyed the mooncake piece — true artistry to see that chef produce a mooncake with such delicate and thin skin.
Comments:
Wes:
Thanks so much for posting these videos. I especially enjoyed the mooncake piece — true artistry to see that chef produce a mooncake with such delicate and thin skin.